American voters are split as 46 percent say it would be a good thing and 44 percent say it would
be a bad thing if the U.S. government shut down because of disagreement in Washington over
federal spending, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Looking at the controversy over pay for government workers, 35 percent say the pay is
"about right," while 15 percent say it is too little and 42 percent say it is too much.

To reduce state budget deficits, collective bargaining for public employees should be
limited, 45 percent of American voters tell the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack)
University poll, while 42 percent oppose limits on collective bargaining. But voters say 63 - 31
percent that government workers should pay more for benefits and retirement programs.

Efforts by governors to limit collective bargaining rights are motivated by a desire to
reduce government costs rather than to weaken unions, voters say 47 - 41 percent.

If the federal government is forced to shut down because of the impasse over spending,
voters say by an overwhelming 78 - 18 percent neither President Barack Obama nor members of
Congress should be paid for that period. Voters would blame Republicans more than President
Obama 47 - 38 percent if the government shuts down.

"There is a partisan tinge to American voter attitudes toward government workers: By
wide margins, Republicans say these workers are overpaid; want them to pay more for their
benefits and want to limit collective bargaining," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"Democrats say 2-1 that government workers are paid about right or too little, rather than
too much and split over whether they should pay more for benefits, but they solidly defend
collective bargaining. Independent voters, as usual, are in the middle."

Democrats say 62 - 28 that shutting down the federal government would be a bad thing,
the mirror image of Republicans who say 63 - 28 percent it would be a good thing. Among
independent voters, 47 percent say "good" and 42 percent saying "bad." Men say it would be a
good thing 50 - 40 percent, while women say it would be bad 48 - 41. White voters say it
would be good 48 - 42 percent, while blacks voters say bad 59 - 30 percent.

From February 21 - 28, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,887 registered voters with a
margin of error of +/- 2.3 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

33. If congress fails to raise the debt ceiling, the government will be shut
down except for those workers deemed essential. - Some people say shutting down
the government except for essential personnel would be a bad thing because many
federal services would be unavailable. - Others say it would be a good thing
because it would stop the government from going further into debt. Which comes
closer to your point of view?